Gravity
Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from The Vampire Diaries.
Happy TVD Thursday everyone! Who else is excited for the episode tonight? Can't wait for some DE :)
July 7th 2013
Sunday 3:40am
Denver, Colorado
"God I am so hungry!" Elena whines in her drunken state as I grab a hold of her arm to stop her from falling over. We all stumble out of a packed nightclub onto the busy loud street, pushing through drunken revelers in our way.
"There we go," I smirk slightly and fling her arm around my waist to help keep her balanced. I wrap my arms around her and walk her steadily beside me to stop her from falling over.
"I could eat a burger right now. Or a steak. Oh, or cheese fries. Damon, I'm hungry." she makes some sort of strange noise that almost sounds like it came straight from her stomach.
"You're always hungry, Elena." I reply back as I stuff my hand into my pocket to pull out some change. I hope I have enough for us to get a cab back to our motel or this is going to be a very long walk home.
"Oh, bad move Damon."
"Huh?"
I turn to see Rose looking at me amused and I frown confused before I realize that Elena is trying to push herself out of my arms.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" she questions with a glare on her face and a sharp bite to her tone as she pushes me backwards with her hands. I reluctantly let go, if only to not cause a scene on this crowded sidewalk.
"Good luck with this one buddy." Rose's boyfriend Trevor looks at me with a grin and I roll my eyes.
"It's not supposed to mean anything." I reply simply, but clearly not saying the right thing as Elena only looks more pissed off. "If anything take it as a compliment that you can eat anything you want and still look like that." I deliberately eye up her body slowly, an appreciative look visible on my face as I take in her long legs that are on show from the summer dress she bought just earlier on today during a girls shopping trip with Rose.
Elena stares at me for a moment, clearly confused and even more stubborn in her drunken haze as she visually debates whether or not to move on and let my apparently stupid comment go. Luckily for me, she's clearly not in the mood for a petty argument. She rolls her eyes and murmurs something about how she works hard to keep her body in check and I that I should respect that.
"Good save." Trevor chuckles as I watch Elena loop her arm through Rose's as they walk a couple of feet ahead of us.
We met Trevor and Rose on the day that we arrived in Denver five days ago. Trevor's Dad happens to own the motel that we are staying in and we got talking about an old classic muscle car parked out front that he is currently working on. We clicked instantly, and when Rose joined a couple of hours later and was introduced to Elena the two hit it off. Before I knew it we were exchanging numbers with the promise of them showing us a good time around the city and we became immediate friends since.
At first I thought it was a bad idea, they both seemed cool but after the Marcel incident I was very reluctant to spend time with any outsiders. Elena however persuaded me that we can't keep on living with only the two of us as each other's company, especially since she was already starting to drive me insane after a very long car journey to get us here from the last town we stopped over in since we left Austin.
It's been working so far and we've been having a good time. Elena was right, it's kind of refreshing to be able to interact with someone else for longer than ten minutes. Trevor and Rose bought our story about the two of us being newly graduated high school seniors from Georgia wanting to travel the country before college, with no questions asked. Obviously we are pretty careful with the amount of information that we give out, keeping personal details to an absolute minimum just to be on the safe side.
However, I am very much aware of the amount of days we have been here in Denver. I don't want to break out of our comfortable new bubble that we have created for ourselves but once we left Austin we both agreed to make a one week rule, which means we can spend seven nights max in one city or town. Judging from the sound of Elena's laughter as she walks just a small distance ahead with Rose, I know that she likes it here, which makes a nervous pit in my stomach because I don't want to take this away from her.
I know how much she misses Bonnie and Caroline, even though she'll never admit it. Over the past few days Rose has been a nice distraction from that, and I'm scared that she'll get upset when we have to leave, because we will have to leave in two days.
Whether we want to or not.
"Damon!"
I look up to see that the two of them have stopped and Elena is looking at me with a pout on her face, her bottom lip sticking out ever so slightly and I immediately realize that she wants something.
"Yes?" I ask with a raised eyebrow, stopping once we close the gap.
"My feet hurt." She sulks and I look down to her heels which are ridiculous to me. I mean honestly I don't understand how girls walk around in those things never mind while under the influence.
I get the hint immediately and without a word I bend down slightly and pick her up bridal style. She giggles and wraps one of her arms around my neck before using the other one to reach down to take off her heels to hold them by the straps.
"Aw, my knight in shining armor." She grins happily before pressing a sloppy drunken kiss to my cheek.
"You are whipped, buddy!" Trevor smirks at me.
"Oh it's cute." Rose practically gushes and I scowl.
I am not cute.
"Why don't both of you shut the hell up?" I glare at them unimpressed and they laugh amused. Elena tuts and scolds me for being rude.
"You guys want to come back to our place for a night cap?" Trevor questions as he pulls out his phone to call a cab.
I glance at Elena who nuzzles her face into my neck and I shake my head. "Nah. I think this one needs her bed."
"Mhmm." Elena mumbles against my skin tiredly and I fight the smile creeping to my lips. "We'll catch you tomorrow though, yeah?"
"You guys are walking?" Rose questions with a hint of concern to her voice. "It's a long walk back for you to carry her. Come get a cab with us."
"Nah we're good." She's right, it is a long walk and not even ten minutes ago I would have happily agreed, but to be honest I could do with the air. I kind of want some alone time with just me and Elena. I really like Rose and Trevor, but we've spent the last couple of days with them almost none stop. "We'll probably stop somewhere for some food on the way."
"Okay, if you're sure?"
"Yeah. See you guys later."
Elena mumbles a drunken goodbye and we get on our way away from the crowded streets of the bustling city before finding ourselves in a quieter part of town.
"Damon?" Elena murmurs against me and I'm surprised to hear that she hadn't fell asleep.
"Yeah baby?"
"Are we really stopping for food?" she asks with a tiny hint of hope in her voice and for some reason I burst out laughing. "What?" Elena squints her eyes at me, lifting her head up from the place it was rested against my neck and looking at me paranoid. "Why are you laughing?"
I gently put her down so she is standing. She wavers slightly and I grip her waist tightly to keep her up straight. "No reason." I push some of her hair that has fallen messily onto her face away and grin. "You look beautiful."
She pulls a face. "Are you joking? I can feel the mascara stains around my eyes."
"Beautiful." I confirm with a smirk and quickly peck her nose. "I love you."
I don't know why but I just needed to say it. I needed her to hear it.
"I love you too." She presses her hand against my cheek and her thumb strokes my skin softly and for a moment I forget where we are. I forget that she's drunk and I'm myself not far off. "You know," she looks down for a moment, her dark eyes hidden away from me. "Sometimes I think about home and I miss it." I feel a pit of guilt in my stomach but then her eyes flutter back up to look into my own and then I can only think of her. "But then I look at you, and I remember that if I was home I wouldn't be with you. We wouldn't be together. I don't regret any of it, not for a second."
"Not even after what happened in Austin?" I ask quietly, because I know that she was a little pissed when I eventually told her that I left Marcel and Lisa tied up and gagged.
She shakes her head. "I told you already that I understood. You did what you did to protect us. It doesn't make it right, but I get it." She presses her lips against mine in a soft kiss. She pulls away slowly and brushes a hand through my hair. "You know, Damon," her voice is quiet. "One day soon I really hope you stop looking at me with a flicker of guilt in your eye."
I blink surprised at her words, frozen still as she pulls back away from me. She suddenly beams a drunken smile and then it's like the conversation never even happened and she's back to her intoxicated bubbly self.
"Don't just stand there, I'm hungry and as my boyfriend it's your duty to feed me." She grins sweetly and I shake myself out of my trance. I swallow the lump in my throat and I push those words from the front of my mind. I quickly charge towards her before swinging her back up into my arms, her shrieks the only sound that can be heard on this dark empty street as I lift her up into my arms.
"You demand, huh?" I ask amused as she giggles in my strong grasp.
"Ahuh. Now come on, walk!" she orders me and I follow through like she knows I always would.
"So, what is it that you and Elena are running from?"
I freeze. My hand clenches forcefully around my glass and my jaw tightens. I take a deep breath and clear my throat.
"We're not running from anything." I answer, trying my hardest to sound nonchalant and confused by her question.
Rose chuckles but it's soft and light. There is no hint of accusation on her face when I sneak a glance at her from the corner of my eye. Suddenly I don't feel as on edge as I did ten seconds ago.
"Oh come on, Damon. Don't think I haven't noticed the signs." She nudges me with her elbow and I look down at the grass under my shoes. "I've seen the way you both check the newspaper every day. You tense whenever you hear a siren or see a cop, and you both have pre-paid phones. I mean, who even uses top up cards anymore?"
I stay silent with an exit strategy already being planned in my head. I just need to stay calm and leave the second I can, find Elena, get back to the motel, pack up our things, get in the car and go.
"Look you don't have to worry about us," Rose replies lightly. "I like you, and I like your girl too. She's a cool chick and Trevor and I don't really make a lot of friends easily. I'll keep your secret."
"You don't know my secret to keep." I reply pointedly and she smirks.
"But I know there is one," she smirks right back. I shake my head and feel my lips tug into a smile despite my inner protests. "So," she continues like this is just a normal conversation to have. "Who is it that's running? You or Elena?"
I stay silent for another moment or two because this is getting far too personal and I should already be on my way back to the motel to pack by now. Something stops me though, and deep down I know in my gut that I can trust Rose.
"Me."
Rose nods silently and I take a large gulp from my drink.
"Elena must really love you." She speaks after a few more moments of silence and I don't reply. That feeling of guilt still rests in the pit of my stomach whenever I realize just what Elena has given up to be with me. "I mean, it's obvious to anyone with eyes how much she loves you, but she must really love you."
"I don't deserve her." I murmur quietly, the words leaving my mouth before I even realize what I'm saying.
I'm going to blame it on the whiskey.
"I don't believe that." Rose replies without hesitation.
"It's the truth." I squint my eyes even though the sun has long set. "I mean you've met her, you know how amazing she is. I'm…I've done some bad things, things that I'm not proud of. She's too good for me."
Rose stays quiet and I finish the rest of my drink, turning to leave before I feel her hand reach out and grab my arm to pull me back.
"You know, Trevor had a crush on me since middle school." She says with a somewhat distant tone to her voice. I stay silent as she moves and takes a seat on the steps at the top of the porch and I feel compelled to follow, taking a seat beside her. "We've known each other for what feels like forever, we've always been somewhat close as friends. I found out in my sophomore year of high school that he had a crush on me, and do you know what I did?" she shakes her head with a somewhat bitter smile on her face. "I laughed at him." I blink surprised. "I mean, it was Trevor, I never saw him in that way and I found it completely bizarre that he would feel that way about me. So I did what I always do and I pushed him away."
I wonder why she is telling me this but for some reason I feel compelled to listen.
"In my junior year my Mom got diagnosed with cancer, it really hit me hard. Trevor tried his best, God bless him he did, but he couldn't help me. I pushed him away and I shut him out. I didn't think I needed him, I didn't think I needed anyone. Then my Mom died, and again he tried to help but again I treated him like crap. I pretty much told him to go to hell. I lost myself in drink, drugs and sex. I had so many one night stands I'm ashamed to say I lost count. This went on for a while and before I knew it I was a high school dropout who didn't even make it to gradation."
I scoff inwardly because I know that feeling.
"So then what changed?" I ask curiously, because from as far as I can see Rose loves Trevor just as much as he clearly loves her.
"I got over myself. I snapped out of the state of me feeling like I was a failure, and that I wasn't good enough. I believe that we accept the love that we think we deserve, and I believed that I didn't deserve Trevor because he was always so much better than me. He was just good, you know? And I wasn't. Even now, there is still a small part of me that is nagging in the back of my mind that I'm not good enough for him."
Again, I know that feeling.
"Elena's Dad's a cop." I confess and I smile when Rose literally laughs out loud.
"Seriously?"
"Yup. As you can imagine he hates me."
She chuckles and shakes her head in disbelief. "I can imagine."
"Hell, it wasn't even that long ago when Elena hated me. Funny how quickly things can change, huh?"
"I know. Just one year ago I was unemployed, broke, and single. Now I have a steady job that I actually kind of enjoy, I've got my own place and I have Trevor. Whatever you're running from, literally and in there," she taps the side of my head playfully. "It will get better." She tells me firmly but with a sweet smile.
I return it and look back down at my shoes because somehow, even the optimist in me doubts that.
Deep down I know that this, right now, is as good as it's going to get.
Nobody can run forever.
"There you are!" I find Damon stood alone outside of the house party Rose and Trevor brought us to. "I've been looking for you everywhere." I approach him, watching as he turns around and greets me with a smile.
"Hey," he holds out his arm for me to fall into and I sigh contently the second I am wrapped up in his arms. "I was just about to come looking for you."
"No need." I look over my shoulder to the front door that is hiding the growing party of drunken teens going on behind there, hidden away from the world. I turn back to Damon. "Um…I think we should go."
I feel him tense and he looks at me with a frown on his face. "Did Rose say something to you?"
"Rose?" I ask confused, unsure of the tense look on his face. "No…why?"
He relaxes slightly and shifts his gaze away from me. "No reason."
"Damon?"
"It's fine." He looks back at me, his smile seemingly genuine before his expression changes to being puzzled. "Wait, why do you want to leave?"
"Ah…" I try to fight off the smile that is growing on my lips. "You'll either be really mad or really proud when I tell you. I am hoping it is the latter, because I worked hard to pull this off! I just may have used some tactics that you may or may not have found appropriate." I offer hesitantly.
Damon looks at me in a mixture of intrigue and wariness.
"Okay?"
I think back to just twenty minutes ago when a drunken asshole would not get the hint that I wasn't interested in him. He wouldn't stop hitting on me. Damon was nowhere to be seen, neither were Rose or Trevor and I was left alone to fend off this idiot all by myself. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't a total dick, I didn't feel like I was in any danger or anything like that but he was just a drunken douchebag who thought he was God's gift to women.
Obviously he hadn't met my boyfriend.
"So this guy was hitting on me…" I begin the story and Damon immediately cuts me off.
"What? What guy?" his eyebrows crease together and he immediately tenses and stands up straight. I roll my eyes at his overprotective behavior.
"It doesn't matter," I press my hands on his chest. "Will you let me tell you?" he unclenches his jaw and nods his head, motioning for me to continue. "Okay, so this guy was hitting on me and he wouldn't take the hint that I wasn't interested-"
"What do you mean he wouldn't take the hint?" he cuts me off, again.
"Damon!" I groan in frustration. "Please. I promise nothing bad happened, look at me I'm standing right here with you!"
He stays silent and I take this as my cue to continue, hoping that he doesn't interrupt me yet again because he hears the start of something that he may not like.
"So like I said, the guy wouldn't take the hint even though I told him over and over again that I had a boyfriend and that I didn't like him. I couldn't find you and I didn't want to leave where Rose had left me in case she came back, so I started to humour him. Mostly for my own amusement, because he was a bit of a sleaze, but he was also really drunk. That's when I noticed the clothes he was wearing." Damon's eyebrows immediately rise at that, his expression full of questions and I practically see him bite his tongue to stop him from speaking. "So I don't know a lot about fashion, but I know enough from being friends with Caroline to know what designer clothing looks like, and trust me, the clothes he was wearing were expensive." The next part of the story I decide to make as simple as possible, as I'm sure Damon will see it as the worst part. "Long story short, I flirted a little, battered by eyelids, you know the stuff." He does not look happy.
But now I can bring out the grand finale.
"While he was distracted and looking at my boobs, I managed to snag this." I grin happily while slipping my hand into the back pocket of my jeans and pulling out a flashy shiny expensive gold Rolex watch.
Damon's eyes widen immediately. He takes the watch from me, eyeing it up between his fingers.
"Elena!" he looks back up at me with wide eyes. His voice is sounding the perfect combination of shock, excitement and worry.
"Which is why I think we should leave." I finish and shrug my shoulders with a sweet innocent smile.
Damon stares at me in disbelief. "You…you are something else." He shakes his head in wonder and I grin happily to see that he's not mad.
"Happy?"
"Happy? I don't know…I mean…a normal guy should not be happy that his girlfriend just stole for him but…this is not exactly a normal situation and I'm not exactly a normal guy so…"
He lets out a laugh and shakes his head.
"How much do you think its worth?" I ask almost impatiently, an odd giddy feeling running through my bones.
Damon studies it for a moment before looking back at me with shining eyes. "A lot. At least enough to pawn for some cash to last us a good short while with the luxury of eating and sleeping well."
I smile happily because that's all I want. We were quickly running out of the money Damon had left over from working for Marcel. I didn't want to go back to sleeping in the car and skipping meals. The new car that we got after ditching the truck in Texas is a lot smaller and cramped, and luckily we've only slept in it a couple of times when we were travelling between places so the idea of a crammed motel is suddenly a lot more appealing.
I look over my shoulder to the house party that is going on inside and suddenly a feeling of dread takes over me. It comes out of nowhere and hits me unexpectedly but it's there nonetheless.
I don't want to leave.
I don't mean this house party, but here, in Denver. This is the first place since we left Mystic Falls where I have felt truly comfortable. This is the first time in over two months where I have been able to feel safe in the company of someone who wasn't Damon. Rose and I clicked straight away, and I know that it was the same for Damon too. The thought of leaving all of this behind to go back on the road to the unknown, to the fear of going to a new town or city and maybe meeting new people who may or may not recognize us is a daunting thought.
I don't want to start anew all over again but deep down I know that we don't have a choice.
I gulp and look back at Damon who is looking at me with a frown on his face.
"What's wrong?"
I shake my head and push back my fears. "Nothing."
"Elena." He doesn't buy it but I need him to.
"I should go and tell Rose that we're leaving," I move past him but he grabs onto my arm tightly and pulls me back.
"You can't."
"I'm not going to say we're leaving town, just that we're leaving the party, okay? Just…let me say this goodbye, even if she doesn't know it." I explain, trying to put down his worry that I might break our newfound rule.
To my surprise however, he shakes his head. "We need to leave now. No goodbyes."
"What?" I frown and look at him confused. "Why?"
"Let's go, Elena." He tugs on my arm but I immediately snatch it from his grasp.
"Damon, I'm not going to give anything away! I just want to say goodbye to Rose. It's the least she deserves after how much she has helped us these past few days. We were complete strangers to her but she treated us like we were her friends and I really needed that. We are her friends."
"Elena, for our own good I can't let you go back in there."
"Why not?!" I snap at him impatiently, starting to get sick of his cryptic replies.
He steps back towards me, placing his hands on my arms. "Rose knows, okay?"
I freeze. My heart stops and this feels like Austin all over again, except this time it's worse because I actually care about what Rose thinks about us.
"What?" I breathe out.
"She doesn't know the ins and outs of it, but she knows that we're running." He explains tensely. "She seemed to be cool with it but we can't rely on that fact. We need to leave quietly. We can't let something like what happened with Marcel happen again here, not only do I not want to put us both through that again but it's too damn risky. Mistakes like this can lead to us getting caught and I don't want to take that risk. Not this time. So please, Elena, let's just calmly go back to the motel, pack up our things and leave."
I stare at him for a moment because I still can't believe that Rose knows. I thought we were being discreet. I thought we were doing well here.
I nod my head silently and I see Damon's body sink in relief. He presses a soft kiss to my forehead before grabbing my hand and leading us towards our parked car.
Luckily he trusts me to drive this one. Since I haven't been drinking, still feeling the after effects from my over excessive consumption the night before, I take the wheel. I turn the keys in the ignition and glance briefly back towards the house before shaking my head and pulling away.
The drive back to the motel is quiet and we walk back into our familiar room and pack up our bags. Damon leaves a quick thank you note to Trevor and Rose before locking up the door and putting our bags in the trunk.
I sigh and pull out from the parking lot, glancing in the mirror as the motel fades in the distance. My phone pulls me away from my thoughts and I see as it rests on the dashboard that it's a text from Rose.
Something sinks in my stomach and I blink back the fighting tears. I knew this was going to happen, and it seems so ridiculous because we haven't even known each other for a week. Yet it still feels like I'm leaving my friends all over again.
I glance at Damon who also notices the text and I don't need to say anything. He reaches forward, picks up my phone and turns it off before throwing it out of the window as I speed along the empty country road. His own cell phone follows shortly after and that is Denver done.
Damon soon falls asleep in the passenger seat not long after. The effects of the alcohol that he has consumed tonight allows him to fall into a deep slumber for once and I'm left alone to my own thoughts.
I should have known not to get too close. I knew we'd have to leave. I knew the one week rule, and yet I can't ignore the growing pit in my stomach that grows bigger and bigger as I drive along the dark open road.
It's then that I realize that we're truly alone in this. No matter where we go or who we meet, we're alone.
I hope you enjoyed it, even if it was a bit of a filler chapter. Thanks for reading, and a big massive thank you again to those of you who took the time out to write a review! :)
Someone asked me in a review if Enzo would appear in this story. The answer is yes, he is going to feature but not for a little while yet. In fact, Enzo's appearance is going to be a bit of a major game changer for the story and DE's relationship, so keep an eye out for him.
Thanks again guys! Until next time!